China will extensively advertise knowledge about prevention and treatment of hepatitis across the country in five years.

A health education foundation was set up on March 7 in Beijing by the Ministry of Health, unveiling the five-year campaign.

China has reported high death rates from hepatitis B as around 10 percent of its nearly 1.3 billion people are infected by the virus. About one quarter of those infected would probably develop into chronic hepatitis B.

As a result of over 20 years of persistent efforts, Chinese scientists have succeeded in working out a new solution to cure chronic hepatitis, announced the Ministry of Health.

Medicines independently developed by Chinese researchers have been proved to be quite effective, it said.

Many patients have not received prompt and appropriate treatment due to lack of knowledge and being misled by false information.

Meanwhile some hospitals depend on excessive use of expensive imported medicines, which add to patients' economic burdens.

(People's Daily March 8, 2002)